Tuesday, April 19, 2011

P is for ... Playoffs

I can't write about hockey and not include something else about playoffs. Yesterday, we all learned about how the octopus came to be a part of Red Wing playoffs. Today we'll take a closer look at how the Stanley Cup Playoffs are set up. Once again, thanks to Wikipedia for the invaluable information:

The first round of the playoffs, or Conference Quarterfinals, consists of four match-ups in each conference, based on the seedings (# 1 vs. # 8, # 2 vs. # 7, # 3 vs. # 6, and # 4 vs. # 5). In the second round, or Conference Semifinals, the top remaining conference seed plays against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pair off (unlike the NBA, for example, where the 1–8 winner always plays the 4–5 winner, regardless of who wins). In the third round, the Conference Finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Final.

For the first three rounds, the higher-seeded team has home-ice advantage (regardless of point record). In the Stanley Cup Final, it goes to the team with the better regular season record. The team with home-ice advantage hosts Games 1, 2, 5 and 7, while the opponent hosts Games 3, 4 and 6 (Games 5–7 are played "if necessary").

Have you ever been to a final championship game? It doesn't have to be a Stanley Cup game, but any type of game.